Sunday, March 24, 2013

Spring must be the time for milestones and giveaways!!! Thank you to followers new and old for participating in my 100 follower giveaway! Congrats to the 10 lucky winners and thank you to the 7 lovely ladies who contributed to the giveaway!

Speaking of prizes, Kate from EduKate and Inspire is hosting a 400 Follower Giveaway and there are some great prizes so hop over to her blog and check it out! Kate is a 2nd grade teacher from OH and her blog is fabulous!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Wow! 100 followers is such an exciting event! When I started my blog I knew I would have one loyal friend and fan but I never imagined 100 lovely followers would come so soon! I wasn't really sure about this whole blogging business to be quite honest and I thought it would just be one more thing on my to-do list that never seems to end but I have really loved the journey! I've met some amazing teachers who I feel are the best of the best! I've built a solid PLN and I love stealing ideas learning from all of my blog stalking hopping. I've loved all of the comments and feedback I've gotten and feel like I've been able to really contribute to the blogging community which is such a humbling feeling :)! I would like to thank these seven wonderful bloggers ladies who teamed up and generously offered to donate something for my 100 follower giveaway! Not only are they kind but they also have some rockin' blogs that you should follow! Let's get to the giveaway...

I will be giving away a $10 iTunes card sent via email!

I will also be giving away a $5 Walmart gift card sent via email.

One lucky winner will win a custom created QR Code scavenger hunt or activity of your choice by yours truly! All you have to do is provide the content and I will do the work :)!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

I just found Doodle Bugs Teaching {first grade rocks!} Five for Friday linky! My blog roll had post after post with this cute Five for Friday icon so I decided to join the fun even though I am a day late (I was tempted to schedule this blog post for yesterday because I like to follow rules)!

Here are my 5 randoms -

1. We went from "snow storm" on Wednesday/Thursday to sunny skies today and 60 degree weather here in VA!

2. I leave for Vegas on Wednesday and have been packed since Tuesday! I fit EVERYTHING into a carry on, ok so my husband has two pairs of shoes in his bag and a few other small items since he leaves tomorrow and will be checking his bag.

3. Gremmy had to go to the vet and get a tooth pulled! My amazing husband handled it all and sent me email updates to let me know how she was doing!

4. Today is the 68th day of the year and I have exactly 68 photos posted in my 365 Project which I am LOVING!

5. I reached 100 Followers this week and I am so excited to host a 100 Follower Giveaway! I already have three generous friends offering items from their TPT store and an iTunes gift card! If you are interested in contributing please let me know!

Toontastic is an iPad app that has unlimited possibilites with children of all ages! There is a free version if you want to try it out but I highly recommend the paid version which gives you a lot more scenes and characters as well as the ability to draw your own, import images or even capture images with your camera! The paid version is $12.99 which is a little more on the expensive side for an app but it is totally worth it! The app is easy to use and prompts you of exactly what to do! First graders created a famous American cartoon last week and they had no trouble! One other thing that I love about the app is the easy upload to ToonTube! After you set up an email account and create a password when you finish with your cartoon you simply give it a title, name the director and press "Share on ToonTube." Before you know it you will receive an email to approve the cartoon and then it can be viewed online, shared in a link or embedded into a website!

After much negotiation my husband agreed to help me create this video to introduce the Toontastic Famous American Project to the first graders! He had to have say in the script and didn't like my "girly" words. He had such a ball doing it that he has asked me on several occasions when we are making another movie which kind of cracks me up!

How cute is this 1st Grade Famous American Toontastic? I love their voices and the erratic movement of their person! They really struggled to read their script and make their person move. Don't you just love those peanut voices?!

What do you think of the 100 Follower Giveaway icon?! I am not quite there with digital graphic design LOL! I already have 3 lovely ladies willing to donate and I am getting the rafflecopter ready to go! If you would like to contribute something I would love to link you up :)!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Wow! 100 followers and 100 posts! My OCD is thrilled with the matching numbers :)! I just wanted to thank everyone for the support and kindness you've shown. A good friend encouraged me to start my own blog back in July! When I started blogging I wasn't sure where to even begin or what to expect. It seemed like just "one more work thing to do" on a never ending to-do list! While taking on a new school year in a new position and 12 new mentee teachers I wasn't sure how I would juggle it BUT I must say starting my blog has been one of the best decisions I've made professionally! I have loved building my PLN with other educators around the country. I've learned so much and have made some great connections with other educators who are similar to me. I've also felt the gratification of being able to help others and offer my ideas. I love all of your comments and feedback! Suggestions for a 100 follower giveaway?!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Can you believe it is already March?! I cannot! I am a little late but since I missed February all together (OOPS!!!) I wanted to make sure to link up with Farley for her famous monthly Currently! I love blog hopping each month on her Currently to see what is happening and also finding new blogs!

This is also my 100th post! Can I get 100 followers this month?!?!

Listening to- I feel like I need to go back and look at my previous Currently's because Lilly and Gremmy wresting has definitely been on my list before! Aren't they the cutest?

I LOVE my life, period, end of story! The past three years has really taught me perspective and I am truly the happiest I have ever been! I love this Dr. Seuss quote and in honor of his birthday (belated) I thought I would share it with you! I am also loving my camera and you can blame it for some of my absence on the blog. You can also blame my 365 Project which revolves around my camera! I attempted a 365 project last year but didn't stick with it! I have two months down and I am addicted. I love learning more and more about my camera each day, capturing my life big moments and small, etc.

My husband leaves for Vegas on Sunday for a conference and I will be flying out Wednesday afternoon! I have never been to Vegas and I am super excited! As I look through my teacher wardrobe I am having a hard time deciding what to pack! I am also trying not to OVER pack like I do on every other trip! The thought of losing my luggage is stressing me out for some reason more than usual and I am hoping to get everything packed in a carry on (insert loud laughter and eye roll here from my husband).

Wanting- I am THAT teacher hoping for a snow day but all of this hype may be a disappointment and then I will be sad! We have had hardly any snow this year in Northern VA! As a lead mentor I always promise new teachers from out of state (NY, PA and OH especially) that we will have snow days a plenty! This year the weatherman is making a liar out of me! This also leads into my needing and I could definitely use a snow day to get caught up with posting on my blog! I have SOOO many great new things to share but can't seem to find the time to spare!

Like, Love, Hate!

I like non-sense and by non-sense I mean just plain silliness! My husband and I are recently obsessed with watching YouTube pranks! Jack Vale is absolutely hysterical and causes uncontrollable laugher in our household! Check him out on YouTube if you need a good laugh and have a fun sense of humor! His claim to fame is the Pooter! He walks around department stores and farts which sounds crude but it is absolutely hysterical to see people react!

I love nicknames! I always think of nicknames for people. Lilly and Gremmy have at least 5 nicknames haha!

So, I don't actually hate much but as I have been using the hallway to record with students and I HATE when other students are walking down the hallway noisy and are so disrespectful to the students who are working hard and trying to record! I want to shout at the teacher who is in the front of the line and remind her that SHE IS NOT THE LINE LEADER and she is doing NO GOOD at the front of the line. Haha!

Happy March friends! If you have found my blog on the Currently I would love for you to follow! Post a comment and I will check out your blog and follow back :)! I am approaching 100 followers and would love to see it happen with this months Currently!!!

SCANAPALOOZA was such a huge success that I wanted to share some of our resources with all of my lovely followers (all 97 of you)! Just click the screen shot to see the full PDF version of our presentation! I know it goes without saying but please do not use our resources as your own or attempt to present our session :)!

So our whole concept was to show that QR Codes can be SO much more than a self checking answer key so we focused on the four highest levels of Bloom! I created this Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid with QR Codes which you can reference if you need a Bloom's refresher!

This is our main SCANAPALOOZA packet which has some general information and resources!

We ran our session very much like our classroom! As participants entered the room they scanned a TwtPoll as our "pre-assessment"! This helped us to gauge our audience and see everyone's experience with QR Codes. We opened with a video created in iMovie that showcases all the ways we use QR Codes in grades 1-8 at Porter! Then instead of lecturing we ran allowed for choice amongst four higher level learning centers that involved QR Codes! During this time we circulated around the room and were there to answer questions and modeled our role as facilitators. We finished up the session with a "post assessment" TwtPoll to see the level of comfort with QR Codes and finding an idea for immediate implementation after our session! Check out the video!

Applying: At Station 1 participants could watch a video tutorial explaining how to make different types of QR Codes! This was a great starting point for beginners!

Analyzing: Station 2 was set up around the room although the space did not allow for participants to get up and move around this was our intention! The Disney QR Code Scavenger Hunt allowed participants to see a fun example of a looping scavenger hunt in action! Each Disney character's clue led you to another character.

Evaluating: At Station 3 participants scanned QR Codes with pictures and clues and then were able to use Google Earth or the internet to help identify the famous landmark and the city/state of it's location! Since we are a Thinking Map school we incorporated the Brace Map with this project!

Creating: Station 4 was an example of a podcast linked to a QR Code for a 5th grade Wax Museum project!

I would LOVE to hear how you are using QR Codes in your classroom! Did you get any ideas from your virtual FETC of SCANAPALOOZA?! I would love your feedback, please leave a comment or perhaps a voice message using Speak Pipe!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

FETC was amazing and I came back from Florida with tons of new ideas but haven't found a second to spare to blog! Our presentation couldn't have gone better and I have lots of pictures to share and all of our handouts that I promised.

"Some nights I stay up searching the Net. Most nights I find some new tools. Next day I go bring them into my classroom. The firewall won't let me through. But I won't give up, I still try new stuff. Oh, man, I'm quite sure what I stand for oh. What do I stand for? What do I stand for?"

This is one of my favorite moments of the whole conference!

We had these hot pink shirts made with a huge QR Code on the back to help advertise for our session! One of our biggest fears was to have 3 people show up! Luckily the shirts were a huge hit and big conversation piece all week.

We posted this adorable picture on our edmodo site hoping everyone would look for us!

The QR Code went to an iMovie that showcases all of the way we use QR Codes at Porter!

The edmodo team was awesome and we rushed to their booth to earn $50 app credit!!!

Look who we ran into! Moby from BrainpopJr!!!

We LOVED watching our edmodo page grow and grow! We were so excited when we hit 100 members! Our page is still gaining members and we are up to 132.

So excited to see our session on the big board! SCANAPALOOZA!!!

Our rockstar team!

Disney QR Code Scavenger Hunt (Center 2)!

We had a full house and everyone had such positive feedback!

All of our handouts can be found on edmodo! Just join group CS8267 to gain access!